Don't Bury Mr. Sense Yet
Reiko sent me a chain e-mail letter which I have copied below. Maybe you have seen it, or one like it, as several are circulating. This chain letter is part of the neo-conservative propaganda campaign to condition Americans into accepting the neo-con right wing view of how America should be. The tactic is to associate their position with common sense and reason, as opposed to the unreasonable views of the other side. The methodology is to use a supposedly cynically humorous chain letter to only vaguely identify, without labeling as political, the neo-con general principles, while choosing specifically identified absurdities to contrast with their point of view.
This clandestine and subversive operation is consistent with the Karl Rove long range plan to undermine the confidence of the American people in the use of our own governmental agencies to enact and enforce the regulations that are necessary in a free market society. This chain letter is designed to be read by people who would not be interested in reading a clearly political letter and who are susceptible to being unaware of the disguised political propaganda in what they are reading and further circulating.
I have added my comments in the course of the letter to help uncover and partially address the political propaganda. Since my Blog is part of the true "Sense" family, I take particular umbrage at the attempt to prematurely bury Common Sense. In the spirit of fighting fire with fire, I think I will work on an obituary for Mr. Conservative.
Obituary for Mr. Sense
Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Mr. Common Sense.
Mr. Sense had been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. [Lays the groundwork to equate bureaucracy with government, and red tape with needless regulations incompetently administered. The fact is that bureaucracy also exists in large private organizations, governmental regulations are part of the rule of law and there are some incompetent people working both in the government and the private sector.]
He will be remembered as having cultivated such value lessons as knowing when to come in out of the rain, why the early bird gets the worm and that life isn't always fair. [Lays the groundwork for the claim that individual responsibility is preferable to government regulation. If a person gets caught in the rain (e.g. the over 40,000,000 Americans without health insurance), or doesn’t get up early enough to get the worm (e.g. the millions who lost jobs to outsourcing because they did not sooner become corporate executives), or expects to be treated fairly (e.g. innocent victims of corporate wrongdoing seeking compensation in the courts), they should not expect the government to "rescue" them by enabling health insurance coverage, addressing outsourcing or providing a fair court forum.]
Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you earn) and reliable parenting strategies (adults, not kids, are in charge). [Neo-cons like to contrast the supposed simplicity of unregulated free markets with the complexity of governmental regulation, as an appeal to the innate desire of people to live a simpler life. The fact is, it is the inherent complexities of the free market that make attempts to regulate its excesses equally complex. True conservatives do stand for sound fiscal policies, but neo-cons do not, as shown by our current record deficit. Neo-cons believe in cutting taxes overwhelmingly for the rich, while at the same time using government to enable accumulation of even greater wealth by those whose taxes have been cut. As Dick Cheney has famously been quoted, they believe "deficits don’t matter". The adult parenting reference is intended to align "family values" with the neo-cons and to imply that anyone who is not a neo-con is not for such values . This short chain letter sentence, which on first reading sounds so innocently sensible, in fact turns out to be a shrewd combination of three neo-con lies.]
His health began to rapidly deteriorate when well intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a six-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition. [Now some supposedly specific examples of why government regulation does not work. Apocryphal, fabricated or embellished stories of "regulation gone wild" are reduced to a trio of ridiculous absurdities. Go to the silliest end of the spectrum, so people won’t associate regulation with protecting students from pre-teen predators, teenage dope pushers and physically abusive teachers.]
Mr. Sense declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer aspirin to a student; but, could not inform the parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion. [Abortion is a neo-con "hot button" issue. Noticeably absent from this letter is the homophobic button. Without regard to whether or not the story is true, in this example the neo-cons seem to want a regulation requiring the school to inform the parents - I doubt they would be satisfied to let the school administrators exercise their own individual responsibility in deciding how to handle the situation.]
Finally, Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband; churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. [The Ten Commandments is a sort of hot button issue also, but notice how they avoid the fact the current controversies involving the Commandments are ones where government legislative regulation has been used to impose the Commandments and then the government courts have found the imposition unconstitutional. Hot button issues for neo-cons are ones on which they actually want the government to impose itself against individual rights. I am not quite sure what they mean by churches becoming businesses - they were passing collection plates long before America was even a gleam in the eyes of the Founding Fathers. As for treatment of criminals, the over 44 million Americans without medical insurance might envy the fact that incarcerated people get health care at government expense - but somehow I don’t think the neo-cons are saying they would like the government to provide health insurance to uninsured victims.]
Common Sense finally gave up the ghost after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot, she spilled a bit in her lap, and was awarded a huge settlement. [And now the mother of all absurdities! The fact is McDonald’s coffee was being served at ridiculously hot temperatures. There is no telling how many other people and their children were burned by it through the years, until one woman and her lawyer finally decided to send McDonald’s the kind of message they understand best - a "fiscally sound" one - turn the damn coffee down or you may end up having to pay compensation to all the people you are burning. McDonald’s got the message, turned the pot down and we are all safer because of it.]
Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust, his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason. He is survived by two stepbrothers; My Rights and Ima Whiner. [Again, association of the neo-con viewpoint with the virtuous, and relegation of the unworthy to step-family status (an unintended slam at step-families as not as valuable?). The naming of the step-children is a little weak. Whiner is apparently someone who, instead of exercising personal responsibility, whines to the government to do it for him, but what’s wrong with Mr. Rights? I guess it is his first name - Our Rights are sacred for all Americans, but "My" maybe implies some selfish entitlement mentality.]
Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on; if not, join the majority and do nothing. [Chain letters end with a threat to those who will not pass it on. The threat here is that inaction will bury us all with Mr. Sense, under the dirt of needless and senseless government regulation.]
This clandestine and subversive operation is consistent with the Karl Rove long range plan to undermine the confidence of the American people in the use of our own governmental agencies to enact and enforce the regulations that are necessary in a free market society. This chain letter is designed to be read by people who would not be interested in reading a clearly political letter and who are susceptible to being unaware of the disguised political propaganda in what they are reading and further circulating.
I have added my comments in the course of the letter to help uncover and partially address the political propaganda. Since my Blog is part of the true "Sense" family, I take particular umbrage at the attempt to prematurely bury Common Sense. In the spirit of fighting fire with fire, I think I will work on an obituary for Mr. Conservative.
Obituary for Mr. Sense
Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Mr. Common Sense.
Mr. Sense had been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. [Lays the groundwork to equate bureaucracy with government, and red tape with needless regulations incompetently administered. The fact is that bureaucracy also exists in large private organizations, governmental regulations are part of the rule of law and there are some incompetent people working both in the government and the private sector.]
He will be remembered as having cultivated such value lessons as knowing when to come in out of the rain, why the early bird gets the worm and that life isn't always fair. [Lays the groundwork for the claim that individual responsibility is preferable to government regulation. If a person gets caught in the rain (e.g. the over 40,000,000 Americans without health insurance), or doesn’t get up early enough to get the worm (e.g. the millions who lost jobs to outsourcing because they did not sooner become corporate executives), or expects to be treated fairly (e.g. innocent victims of corporate wrongdoing seeking compensation in the courts), they should not expect the government to "rescue" them by enabling health insurance coverage, addressing outsourcing or providing a fair court forum.]
Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you earn) and reliable parenting strategies (adults, not kids, are in charge). [Neo-cons like to contrast the supposed simplicity of unregulated free markets with the complexity of governmental regulation, as an appeal to the innate desire of people to live a simpler life. The fact is, it is the inherent complexities of the free market that make attempts to regulate its excesses equally complex. True conservatives do stand for sound fiscal policies, but neo-cons do not, as shown by our current record deficit. Neo-cons believe in cutting taxes overwhelmingly for the rich, while at the same time using government to enable accumulation of even greater wealth by those whose taxes have been cut. As Dick Cheney has famously been quoted, they believe "deficits don’t matter". The adult parenting reference is intended to align "family values" with the neo-cons and to imply that anyone who is not a neo-con is not for such values . This short chain letter sentence, which on first reading sounds so innocently sensible, in fact turns out to be a shrewd combination of three neo-con lies.]
His health began to rapidly deteriorate when well intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a six-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition. [Now some supposedly specific examples of why government regulation does not work. Apocryphal, fabricated or embellished stories of "regulation gone wild" are reduced to a trio of ridiculous absurdities. Go to the silliest end of the spectrum, so people won’t associate regulation with protecting students from pre-teen predators, teenage dope pushers and physically abusive teachers.]
Mr. Sense declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer aspirin to a student; but, could not inform the parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion. [Abortion is a neo-con "hot button" issue. Noticeably absent from this letter is the homophobic button. Without regard to whether or not the story is true, in this example the neo-cons seem to want a regulation requiring the school to inform the parents - I doubt they would be satisfied to let the school administrators exercise their own individual responsibility in deciding how to handle the situation.]
Finally, Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband; churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. [The Ten Commandments is a sort of hot button issue also, but notice how they avoid the fact the current controversies involving the Commandments are ones where government legislative regulation has been used to impose the Commandments and then the government courts have found the imposition unconstitutional. Hot button issues for neo-cons are ones on which they actually want the government to impose itself against individual rights. I am not quite sure what they mean by churches becoming businesses - they were passing collection plates long before America was even a gleam in the eyes of the Founding Fathers. As for treatment of criminals, the over 44 million Americans without medical insurance might envy the fact that incarcerated people get health care at government expense - but somehow I don’t think the neo-cons are saying they would like the government to provide health insurance to uninsured victims.]
Common Sense finally gave up the ghost after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot, she spilled a bit in her lap, and was awarded a huge settlement. [And now the mother of all absurdities! The fact is McDonald’s coffee was being served at ridiculously hot temperatures. There is no telling how many other people and their children were burned by it through the years, until one woman and her lawyer finally decided to send McDonald’s the kind of message they understand best - a "fiscally sound" one - turn the damn coffee down or you may end up having to pay compensation to all the people you are burning. McDonald’s got the message, turned the pot down and we are all safer because of it.]
Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust, his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason. He is survived by two stepbrothers; My Rights and Ima Whiner. [Again, association of the neo-con viewpoint with the virtuous, and relegation of the unworthy to step-family status (an unintended slam at step-families as not as valuable?). The naming of the step-children is a little weak. Whiner is apparently someone who, instead of exercising personal responsibility, whines to the government to do it for him, but what’s wrong with Mr. Rights? I guess it is his first name - Our Rights are sacred for all Americans, but "My" maybe implies some selfish entitlement mentality.]
Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on; if not, join the majority and do nothing. [Chain letters end with a threat to those who will not pass it on. The threat here is that inaction will bury us all with Mr. Sense, under the dirt of needless and senseless government regulation.]
posted by Tom Blake | 4:51 PM
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